‘The shine has been taken off’: Dubai faces existential threat as foreigners flee conflict

## Summary
Photograph: Altaf Qadri/AP ‘The shine has been taken off’: Dubai faces existential threat as foreigners flee conflict Tens of thousands of residents and tourists have left UAE since the US and Israel started bombing Iran two weeks ago, leaving beach bars, malls and hotels eerily empty In the playground of the rich, nobody wanted this war. They are among the tens of thousands of residents and tourists that have fled Dubai since the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran almost two weeks ago. Chirpy messaging by officials reassures people that the “big booms” in the sky are “the sound of safety”. 0:34 Several injured as luxury Dubai hotel hit amid Iranian missile strikes – video Residents and tourists who remain in the city insist it has been remarkably easy to continue with life as usual, even though the beach bars, malls and five-star hotels remain eerily empty. You wouldn’t know there’s a war.” Thousands of pets being abandoned in Dubai as owners flee over Iran war Read more Collateral damage from the mass tourist and influencer exodus has included hundreds of cats and dogs , so favoured by Dubai’s famed stars of TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, which in recent days have been unceremoniously dumped at the city’s shelters, tied to lamp-posts or left in boxes on the streets as their owners hurriedly left the country.

## Article Content
A public beach lies deserted in Dubai.
Photograph: Altaf Qadri/AP
View image in fullscreen
A public beach lies deserted in Dubai.
Photograph: Altaf Qadri/AP
‘The shine has been taken off’: Dubai faces existential threat as foreigners flee conflict
Tens of thousands of residents and tourists have left UAE since the US and Israel started bombing Iran two weeks ago, leaving beach bars, malls and hotels eerily empty
In the playground of the rich, nobody wanted this war. For decades,
Dubai
built itself up as a sanctuary of unadulterated consumerism visited by tourists the world over.
But now, the city in the
United Arab Emirates
faces an existential threat, as the war between the US and Israel and Iran has shaken the foundations of the “Dubai dream” that so many foreigners had bought into.
The UAE has borne the brunt of more than two-thirds of Iran’s strikes; the state targeted in part, say analysts, for its deep military and intelligence partnerships with western powers, and Dubai’s reputation as a favoured centre for global finance and western holidays.
“The shine has definitely been taken off,” said John Trudinger, a British resident of Dubai for 16 years, who is a headteacher at an Emirati school in Dubai. He employs more than 100 teachers from the UK and said most have been so “deeply traumatised and really struggling to cope” with the sudden arrival of war in Dubai that they have left and won’t come back.
They are among the tens of thousands of residents and tourists that have fled Dubai since the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran almost two weeks ago. The city’s large population of migrant workers largely don’t have that option.
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People are greeted by relieved family members after arriving back in Germany on a flight from Dubai.
Photograph: Ronald Wittek/EPA
On a daily basis, alerts ping on everyone’s phones, warning of “potential missile threats” and telling them to seek safety and stay away from windows. More than 90% of the 1,700 Iranian projectiles have been rebuffed by UAE’s defence systems, but some have struck significant targets, including military bases, industrial complexes and Dubai airport, shutting down one of the busiest aviation hubs in the world. Attacks on two datacentres briefly left Dubai residents unable to use their phones for digital payments.
The Fairmont hotel, located on Dubai’s famed artificial palm tree-shaped island, home to mega-mansions, lavish hotels and upmarket beach clubs, was also dramatically hit.
Zain Anwar, a taxi driver from Pakistan, saw his car destroyed in the strike on the Fairmont after he had parked it while he went to pray.
“I am the luckiest person in the world to have survived,” he said. “But now my family are telling me to come home. I don’t want to be in Dubai any more, there is no business, we are earning nothing since this war, and I don’t see the tourism coming back. A lot of taxi drivers like me, we are thinking to go to a different country now. Everybody knows that Dubai is finished.”
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Smoke rises from a warehouse in the industrial area of Sharjah City near Dubai.
Photograph: Altaf Qadri/AP
The economic consequences of the conflict for the UAE are likely to be significant, but nowhere more so than Dubai, where tourism generates around $30bn every year. Over 90% of its residents are foreigners, including one of the world’s highest concentration of billionaires, savouring the lack of tax on income, capital gains and inheritance.
Unlike other Gulf emirates, Dubai does not have vast oil resources to fall back on. Analysts say the financial losses will be stark if the war drags on and the city’s reputation as a haven for tourism and western confidence in business, banking and real estate investments continues to erode. On Wednesday, Citibank and Standard Chartered bank evacuated their Dubai employees “due to heightened security concerns”.
“Already Dubai is losing out significantly,” said Khaled Almezaini, a professor at UAE’s Zayed university and co-author of An Introduction to Gulf Politics. “So far it’s bearable for the UAE’s economy, but if this goes on for another 10 or 20 days then the impact on tourism, on aviation, on expatriate businesses, on oil, will be very difficult.”
There has been a marked effort by the Sheiks that rule Dubai to control the narrative and maintain an image of calm and safety. After a series of panicked posts across social media, Dubai’s police force threatened to arrest and jail social media influencers who shared social content that “contradicts official announcements or that may cause social panic”. Chirpy messaging by officials reassures people that the “big booms” in the sky are “the sound of safety”.
0:34
Several injured as luxury Dubai hotel hit amid Iranian missile strikes – video
Residents and tourists who remain in the city insist it has been remarkably easy to continue with life as usual, even though the beach bars, malls and five-star hotels remain eerily em

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- More than 90% of the 1,700 Iranian projectiles have been rebuffed by UAE’s defence systems, but some have struck significant targets, including military bases, industrial complexes and Dubai airport, shutting down one of the busiest aviation hubs in the world.
- Photograph: Altaf Qadri/AP The economic consequences of the conflict for the UAE are likely to be significant, but nowhere more so than Dubai, where tourism generates around $30bn every year.

### Areas for Consideration
- Photograph: Altaf Qadri/AP ‘The shine has been taken off’: Dubai faces existential threat as foreigners flee conflict Tens of thousands of residents and tourists have left UAE since the US and Israel started bombing Iran two weeks ago, leaving beach bars, malls and hotels eerily empty In the playground of the rich, nobody wanted this war.
- But now, the city in the United Arab Emirates faces an existential threat, as the war between the US and Israel and Iran has shaken the foundations of the “Dubai dream” that so many foreigners had bought into.
- On Wednesday, Citibank and Standard Chartered bank evacuated their Dubai employees “due to heightened security concerns”. “Already Dubai is losing out significantly,” said Khaled Almezaini, a professor at UAE’s Zayed university and co-author of An Introduction to Gulf Politics. “So far it’s bearable for the UAE’s economy, but if this goes on for another 10 or 20 days then the impact on tourism, on aviation, on expatriate businesses, on oil, will be very difficult.” There has been a marked effort by the Sheiks that rule Dubai to control the narrative and maintain an image of calm and safety.

### Implications
- Analysts say the financial losses will be stark if the war drags on and the city’s reputation as a haven for tourism and western confidence in business, banking and real estate investments continues to erode.
- On Wednesday, Citibank and Standard Chartered bank evacuated their Dubai employees “due to heightened security concerns”. “Already Dubai is losing out significantly,” said Khaled Almezaini, a professor at UAE’s Zayed university and co-author of An Introduction to Gulf Politics. “So far it’s bearable for the UAE’s economy, but if this goes on for another 10 or 20 days then the impact on tourism, on aviation, on expatriate businesses, on oil, will be very difficult.” There has been a marked effort by the Sheiks that rule Dubai to control the narrative and maintain an image of calm and safety.
- After a series of panicked posts across social media, Dubai’s police force threatened to arrest and jail social media influencers who shared social content that “contradicts official announcements or that may cause social panic”.
- I have my goals and I will stay here to work for them.” Most in Muhaisnah 2 shrugged off concerns and said the war had nothing to do with them.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers dubai, war, beach topics. Notable strengths include discussion of dubai. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1422.